NAME
Apache::Reload - Reload changed modules
SYNOPSIS
In httpd.conf:
PerlInitHandler Apache::Reload
PerlSetVar ReloadAll Off
Then your module:
package My::Apache::Module;
use Apache::Reload;
sub handler { ... }
1;
DESCRIPTION
This module is two things. First it is an adaptation of Randal
Schwartz's Stonehenge::Reload module that attempts to be a
little more intuitive and makes the usage easier.
Stonehenge::Reload was written by Randal to make specific
modules reload themselves when they changed. Unlike
Apache::StatINC, Stonehenge::Reload only checked the change time
of modules that registered themselves with Stonehenge::Reload,
thus reducing stat() calls. Apache::Reload also offers the exact
same functionality as Apache::StatINC, and is thus designed to
be a drop-in replacement. Apache::Reload only checks modules
that register themselves with Apache::Reload if you explicitly
turn off the StatINC emulation method (see below). Like
Apache::StatINC, Apache::Reload must be installed as an Init
Handler.
StatINC Replacement
To use as a StatINC replacement, simply add the following
configuration to your httpd.conf:
PerlInitHandler Apache::Reload
Register Modules Implicitly
To only reload modules that have registered with Apache::Reload,
add the following to the httpd.conf:
PerlInitHandler Apache::Reload
PerlSetVar ReloadAll Off
# ReloadAll defaults to On
Then any modules with the line:
use Apache::Reload;
Will be reloaded when they change.
Register Modules Explicitly
You can also register modules explicitly in your httpd.conf file
that you want to be reloaded on change:
PerlInitHandler Apache::Reload
PerlSetVar ReloadAll Off
PerlSetVar ReloadModules "My::Foo My::Bar Foo::Bar::Test"
Note that these are split on whitespace, but the module list
must be in quotes, otherwise Apache tries to parse the parameter
list.
Special "Touch" File
You can also set a file that you can touch() that causes the
reloads to be performed. If you set this, and don't touch() the
file, the reloads don't happen. This can be a great boon in a
live environment:
PerlSetVar ReloadTouchFile /tmp/reload_modules
Now when you're happy with your changes, simply go to the
command line and type:
touch /tmp/reload_modules
And your modules will be magically reloaded on the next request.
This option works in both StatINC emulation mode and the
registered modules mode.
PSUEDOHASHES
The short summary of this is: Don't use psuedohashes. Use an
array with constant indexes. Its faster in the general case, its
more guaranteed, and generally, it works.
The long summary is that I've done some work to get this working
with modules that use psuedo hashes, but its still broken in the
case of a single module that contains multiple packages that all
use psuedohashes.
So don't do that.
AUTHOR
Matt Sergeant, matt@sergeant.org
MAINTAINERS
the mod_perl developers, dev@perl.apache.org
SEE ALSO
Apache::StatINC, Stonehenge::Reload